


My old RK fics

by Raberba girl (Raberba_girl)



Category: Rurouni Kenshin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-05-03
Updated: 2012-11-24
Packaged: 2017-12-25 01:11:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/946866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raberba_girl/pseuds/Raberba%20girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My old, sucky RK fics.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Cinderella Snapshot

A Cinderella Snapshot

A Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl

 

Summary:  Battousai is in no shape to ask Princess Kaoru to marry him. Looks like he needs some help from an unexpected "fairy godmother." Based on a scene from the Cinderella fairy tale.

 

o.o.o

 

She found him sitting in the ruins, hunched over dejectedly, clutching that sword of his like it was his only support.

 

She came to stand in front of him, and noted with disgust that he did not even react to her presence.  "Battousai.  What are you doing moping here when you've got a princess to propose to?"

 

"I'm not proposing to anyone," he answered dully.  "Kaoru-hime deserves someone better.  Someone whose hands aren't stained with blood...someone who can offer her more than the wretched life of a rurouni."

 

She very nearly kicked him.  "If anything, _she's_ the one who is lucky to have _you_.  In my opinion."

 

His only answer was to bow his head lower, hiding even more of his handsome face behind those ridiculous bangs.

 

She clicked her tongue.  "Well, one thing's for sure; no guard in their right mind will let you into the palace in that state.  Come on, let's get to work."  When there was no response, she ordered more firmly, "Stand up, Battousai!"

 

He did not move, so she yanked the sword out of his arms and held it up above her head.

 

"Hey!"  His startled face finally came into view as he surged to his feet, reaching up for his lost prize.  "Give that back!"

 

The sword vanished just as his hands were about to close on it.  "No sword 'til you let me fix you up a bit," she stated in a tone that brooked no argument.

 

He glared, an expression that would have crushed anyone who did not know him well.  "Who are you, anyway?" he growled.

 

She threw back her head indignantly.  "Has the war been so cruel to you that you don't even remember me, Battousai?  It's me, Tomoe.  Your fae guardian."

 

He stared at her.  Yes, now that he knew to look behind the fey glamour, he recognized her face now.  "You...."  Then his eyes narrowed.  "Why weren't you there?  Why didn't you stop me from joining the army?"

 

She shook her  head.  "If you didn't listen to Hiko, how on earth would anything _I_ said have made a difference?"

 

He looked away.

 

"Now, then," she said briskly.  "First order of business, your clothes.  The suitor of a princess does not prance about with ragged hemlines."

 

He watched in amazement as she made a magical gesture toward his ankles, sealing up the torn cloth and adding a sparkling design around the hems.  Her waving hands passed over the rest of his outfit; blood and dirt dropped away, the colors shone brilliantly, and his once-plain garments took on elaborate ornamentation.

 

"And let's see, the hair...."

 

He ducked away from her fingers.  "What are you trying to do to me?"

 

"How can she fall in love with those good looks of yours if she can't even see them?  Just let me trim back those bangs for you--"

 

He shook his head emphatically.

 

"Fine," she huffed.  "Maybe she goes for the pretty-boy look.  In that case, let me grow out that pathetic ponytail."

 

"Tomoe--" he started, but she was already tugging at his length of auburn hair, so that it grew thicker and longer within moments.

 

"We'll brighten it up a bit - if it's got to be red, it might as well be fiery - and then, one last thing."  She poked at his eyes, making him yelp and duck away again.

 

"Oro!  Tomoe-dono, this one must protest...."

 

She smiled.  "What's a bishounen without humongous pretty eyes, after all.  There, Battousai, you look wonderful.  Oh-- I almost forgot.  We can't have a big ugly slash across that sweet face of yours, now can we."  However, when she held up her hand to do away with the scar, Battousai caught her wrist and leveled such a glare at her that even _she_ froze for a minute.

 

"Don't touch it," was all he said, but his tone was warning enough.

 

Tomoe swallowed.  "All right.  All _right_ , I'll leave it alone."  She pulled her wrist out of his grip and crossed her arms, studying him.  "Let's see, anything else?  No?  You are ready, then.  Don't forget to let your top droop open a bit; I'm sure she'll appreciate being able to see a bit of flesh."

 

So of course he self-consciously tugged at his clothes to better cover his chest.  "Tomoe-dono, may this one please have his sword back now?"

 

She shook her head.  "I was hoping you would forget about that."  She sighed and dutifully pulled his precious sword back out of thin air.  As she made to swing it back to him, however, the sheath slid free and she jerked back in surprise.  She gasped when the end of the blade raked his cheek, exactly perpendicular to the scar that already marred his looks.  "Battousai!  I'm so sorry!"

 

He held a hand to his bleeding face, looking more confused than upset.  "Tomoe-dono...."

 

"I-I'm sorry!" she apologized again.  "Here, let me fix it--"

 

He stepped back and gently shook his head.  "Leave it."

 

She sighed.  "Have it your own way, Battousai.  At least let me stop the bleeding."  As she did so, she frowned at the sword.  "Got to do something about this menace, though."

 

"Tomo--" he began urgently, but she had already placed her palm at the base of the blade and carefully slid her hand down its entire length.

 

"What did you do to it?" he asked indignantly.

 

"Only reversed the blade.  Look at it this way, Battousai; now you won't be able to upset the princess by killing anyone in front of her."

 

He frowned thoughtfully at his altered sword, then shook his head and tied it back at his waist.  "This one still thinks this is a mistake."

 

She stepped up to him and put her arms around his neck.  "If you feel that strongly about it," she said quietly, "then just know that I would not be adverse to claiming you for myself."  He did not answer.  "What will it be?" she said ruthlessly.  "Me, or the princess?"

 

His eyes were far away for a minute.  Then he focused back on her face.  "Tomoe-dono," he said.  "This one is sorry...for what happened between us.  But...what's done is done.  You are of the fae now, and this one is still mortal.  We lost our chance to be happy together long ago."

 

She nodded.  He was right, and she had known he was right, but it still hurt, and she could see it hurt him, too.  "Then please grant me this," she whispered.  "Find happiness.  You know where it is - claim it, it is yours for the taking."

 

He nodded.  Then he moved off, and as he was walking away, she called after him, "Wait!"

 

He stopped to listen, though he didn't turn around.

 

"Battousai is much too harsh a name to use for wooing princesses, you know."

 

"Any suggestions?" he called back, with just a hint of amusement in his voice.

 

"Kenshin," she said firmly.  "Himura Kenshin.  It's easier to make cute nicknames out of."

 

This time he laughed aloud, and only then did he turn to face her for a moment, and smiled.  Then he walked on, headed for the palace where Princess Kaoru was waiting.

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  Yay, my first RuroKen fic.  I love this series, but for a long time I did not feel comfortable writing about it because I know next to nothing about either Japanese history or swordsmanship.

 

Then it finally occurred to me that I could write AUs.  Unfortunately no good ideas were coming to me, so I thought of doing fairy tale re-writes instead, and one of the ones that fit was Cinderella.  However, when I tried to imagine out the Cinderella story, the only scene that really worked was the one where Tomoe, as the fairy godmother, comes to transform Kenshin into a prince, so I decided to just make a one-shot focusing on that scene.  Hope you liked it.

 

I see now that Tomoe is OOC.  I fixed it as best I could, but in this case, unfortunately, her characterization is going to have to suffer for the sake of style.  I apologize.

 

While re-reading the manga, I finally realized that Kenshin starts out calling her Tomoe-san, then drops the honorific altogether when they get to know each other better.  Even as rurouni, he never calls her "Tomoe-dono," but I decided to keep the honorific anyway in order to emphasize Kenshin's transformation.  I figured that it might be okay since this fic is an AU.


	2. Dragon Hunting

Dragon Hunting

A Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl

 

Summary:  Sanosuke and Yahiko are dragon hunting. They expected to confront a monstrous beast, not a cute little red dragon and its bossy maiden sacrifice. Rated for violence.

 

A/N:  Of the three RK dragon ideas I came up with after _Sapphire Scales_ , this is the light-hearted one, but it didn't turn out very funny or interesting.  Thought I'd post it anyway, for whatever it's worth.

 

o.o.o

 

"The eyeballs are the best," Sanosuke was saying enthusiastically, "because they're not protected as much as the rest of them, _and_ you've got a blind dragon to boot.  It's beautiful!"

 

"Actually it sounds pretty gross," Yahiko mumbled.  The two of them were hiking up a mountain, heading for the dragon's lair where they knew a fierce beast resided.  "So what happens if you can't reach the eyes?  I've heard dragons get pretty big."

 

Sanosuke shrugged.  "Then you go for the under-armor - it's softer - or you try to stick a spear down its throat when it lunges for you.  Just make sure to watch out for the teeth, and the claws - both front and back.  And the tail.  And the fire-breath, of course.  Oh, and try not to let it fly, 'cause then you're a sitting duck."

 

"Oh thanks, I'll make sure to keep all that in mind," Yahiko shot back, suddenly queasy.  This had probably been a mistake....

 

Both young men came to a sudden halt.  A creature had come around a bend in the path, its crimson scales gleaming in the sunlight and a wooden bucket clenched in its teeth by the handle.  It froze when it saw them, and for a moment both parties regarded each other in surprise.

 

"Is that a dragon?" Yahiko finally exclaimed.  "He's kind of...small."  Dragons were supposed to be huge, big enough to easily squash houses.  This little red creature was about the size of a dog.

 

"Hey!" Sanosuke cried gleefully.  "It's a baby, Yahiko!  You lucked out and got an easy first job.  Come on, let's skewer him!"

 

At this, the dragon promptly dropped its bucket and fled.  The boys gave chase, yelling, but by the time they caught up to their quarry, it had taken refuge in a tree and was hissing down at them.  As Sanosuke growled back and circled the tree, trying to figure out how best to climb it, Yahiko was looking uneasily at the yawning cave mouth behind them.  "Uh...Sanosuke...what if its mom comes out, all mad that we're attacking her kid?"

 

At a sudden scuffling sound from inside the cave, Sanosuke whirled to join him.  The two of them waited tensely, weapons at the ready.  A soft light appeared, moving through the darkness, and a female voice startled them both.  "Kenshin?  Did you fetch that water already?"

 

Sanosuke's and Yahiko's mouths dropped open as a girl came out of the cave, carrying a lamp.  She frowned in confusion when she saw them, but in the next instant they were knocked to the ground.  Something hot and heavy was sitting on their backs, and sharp claws were pressed threateningly against the backs of their necks.  Their weapons had been thrown out of reach.

 

"Kaoru-dono," a calm voice spoke above their heads, "they are dragon hunters, that they are.  Please stay back."

 

"It talks!" Sanosuke shrieked, moving suddenly in an attempt to get away.  He made a choking sound when he found that succeeding in such an action would have resulted in more blood than he was willing to spare.

 

"You never told me they could talk!" Yahiko accused.

 

"This one is willing to let you go," the dragon said conversationally, "if you will promise never to trouble us again.  Please understand that if you make such a promise without intending to keep it, you will not be offered leniency a second time."

 

"Were you trying to kill my dragon?" the girl exclaimed indignantly.

 

" _Your_ dragon?" Sanosuke shot back.  "He's not a _pet_ for crying out loud!"

 

"Looks like one," Yahiko mumbled, fighting the crazy urge to snicker.

 

"He's dangerous!"

 

"My Kenshin is _not_ dangerous," the girl huffed.

 

"Kaoru-dono..." the dragon murmured, sounding a little wounded.

 

"Look, let us up already," Yahiko said.  "We won't hurt you or your...uh...friend."

 

"Whaddaya mean we won't hurt him?" Sanosuke raged.  "I'll tear the little hatchling to pieces as soon as I can get up!"

 

"Well that's not very persuasive, is it," the dragon commented.  "And this one is full grown, by the way."  It cautiously released Yahiko, and in the next second found itself occupied with an angry Sanosuke.  Yahiko and the girl watched as the two of them went at it, Sanosuke yelling lustily, the dragon with calm, efficient movements, quick as lightning.

 

"Serves him right," the girl said in satisfaction.  "Attacking my Kenshin like that...."

 

"Who are you, anyway?" Yahiko wondered.  "How'd you end up with a dragon?"

 

"How do _all_ maidens end up with dragons?  My name is Kamiya Kaoru.  I was offered as a sacrifice, _supposedly_ to placate the Beast of the Mountain, by that scum of the earth, Kihei."  She growled, reaching absently for the bokutō at her side.  "That slimeball...next time I see him, I'm beating him senseless."

 

"So I take it you survived," Yahiko said dryly, and was a little startled with the depth of her sudden smile.

 

"Kenshin isn't a Beast at all.  He's _adorable_.  And he does all the chores, so I don't have to lift a finger!"

 

"Uh huh."  Yahiko glanced back at the fight, where Sanosuke was hacking away at a red blur that seemed to have successfully eluded him so far.  "Who'd have thought...."

 

He stumbled at a sudden shaking of the ground.  "An earthquake?" he said in alarm.  He looked at Kaoru, but she was looking up instead of down, her expression apprehensive.  "Kaoru?"

 

Her eyes shot back to his.  "You ever heard of honorifics, jerk?"

 

The combatants had paused, too.  The dragon, Kenshin, was looking in the same direction Kaoru had.  Sanosuke's anger clouded over with confusion as he exclaimed, "What's that?"  The earth was still shaking, regular thumps as if something very large was approaching.

 

"All of you, get into the cave," the dragon said suddenly.

 

"Kenshin!" Kaoru cried.

 

It (he?) glanced back at her.  "It's all right, Kaoru-dono.  This one will handle it, that he will."

 

"Handle what?" Sanosuke demanded, but just then the source of the disturbance came into sight.  It was another dragon, this one a proper size, looming up over them at easily five times Sanosuke's height.  It opened its mouth and roared.

 

"What is it, Raijuuta?" Kenshin said irritably.  There was another roar that sounded like a menacing response, and then Kenshin looked back at the staring humans.  "Why aren't you in the cave yet?"

 

"A big dragon fighting a tiny dragon," Sanosuke said slowly.  He grinned and crossed his arms.  "This I gotta see."

 

"Get him, Kenshin!" Kaoru cheered.

 

"So we're _not_ fighting the huge dragon, and we're _not_ going to hide in the cave?" Yahiko said in confusion.

 

The Raijuuta dragon opened its mouth and blasted a wall of flame at them.  "Kaoru-dono!" Kenshin cried, but the dragon hunters were ready.  Both were already smeared with a fire-repellant salve, and their reaction was swift as they whipped out a red cloak and shielded both themselves and Kaoru under it.  When the rush of heat died away, the three emerged from under it, a little singed but otherwise none the worse for wear.

 

"Wh-What happened?!" Kaoru squeaked in confusion.

 

"Ooh, Yahiko, looks like the beastie involved innocent bystanders," Sanosuke said gleefully.  "Let's get him!"

 

"Uh...I think Kenshin beat us to it," Yahiko remarked.

 

As soon as he had seen that Kaoru was safe, Kenshin had flown at Raijuuta like a streak of crimson lightning.  Even as Raijuuta was turning his head, the smaller dragon had seized the tip of his wing in his teeth and seemed to be trying to wrap it backwards around him.  Raijuuta bellowed in pain and swatted at him, but the little red dragon was too small and swift for the deadly claws to even come close.

 

Kenshin landed and braced all four sets of claws, straining to keep the bigger dragon pinned; he was startled when Sanosuke suddenly appeared and drove an enormous weapon into Raijuuta's wing tip.  Kenshin let go and gazed up at Sanosuke in astonishment.  Raijuuta, howling, rolled free of his own wing but then was brought up short.

 

"That's the zanbatō you're dealing with," Sanosuke told him in satisfaction.  "Even a big lug like you won't be able to tug free so easy."

 

Raijuuta's eyes narrowed and clouded over with a fierce golden hue, the indication of a dragon's rage.  The claws came down to snap the huge blunt sword in half and the wing came free, trailing blood.  Kenshin wasted no time in springing up into the air near Raijuuta's head to savage his face.  The bigger dragon bellowed and fought back with head, claws, and wings, but Kenshin was too small to hit.

 

Unheeded, Raijuuta's huge tail was swishing around on the ground, putting the humans in danger.  Yahiko dragged Kaoru aside as Sanosuke, roaring about his lost zanbatō, charged back at Raijuuta with his bare fists.

 

"That idiot's gonna get killed!" Kaoru exclaimed.

 

"No...he's been fighting dragons for a long time," Yahiko explained.

 

Kaoru frowned.  "How?  He doesn't look that old."

 

"Nineteen, he says.  But his family was killed by a dragon; he's been avenging them ever since."

 

"Oh," Kaoru said softly.  She eyed the boy.  "What about you?"

 

Yahiko shrugged.  "I don't care about dragons one way or the other."  He smiled tightly.  "But Sanosuke feeds me better than anything I'd get on the streets."  Kaoru stared down at him, but he refused to look at her.  It was obvious that the subject was closed.

 

"Futae no kiwami!"

 

Raijuuta howled again and slashed at the spiky-haired young man in white, even as large cracks blossomed over his scales.  There was murder in his eyes, but Kenshin dove again and re-captured his attention.

 

"Why's the big dragon attacking us, anyway?" Yahiko wanted to know.  "Isn't your Kenshin thing a dragon, too?"

 

"Other dragons don't like him," Kaoru admitted, "because he's so small and fights better than them and is nice to humans.  Raijuuta isn't the first who's come to challenge Kenshin since I've been here."

 

"He's _nice_ to humans?" Yahiko repeated incredulously.  "Why?"

 

"Because that's just how he is!" she said defensively.  "I mean...he doesn't go out of his way to talk to humans or anything, they'd try to kill him.  But...."  Her voice trailed into a grumble.  "Well, just for an example, I'm not the first maiden sacrifice he's rescued."

 

"I bet you're the first one who kept living with him afterwards," Yahiko muttered with a grin.

 

Her face flared red.  "And why shouldn't I?!  It's not like I have anywhere else to go!"  Then she turned away, unwilling to reveal more.

 

With a thunderous, drawn-out crash, Raijuuta came sprawling down full-length on the ground, out cold.  Sanosuke grinned and gestured victoriously at Yahiko as Kenshin nosed at the fallen dragon, making sure he wasn't bluffing.  Then he nodded in satisfaction and came trotting back to Kaoru.

 

"Kenshin, you were wonderful!" she cheered, picking him up so she could cuddle him.

 

"Kaoru-dono," he mumbled in embarrassment.  Then his head came up as Sanosuke approached, and he quickly wriggled out of Kaoru's arms to crouch protectively in front of her.

 

"I'm not gonna hurt her," Sanosuke said harshly, his face coloring.  "Or...or you either, okay?  At least for now."

 

"Changed your mind?" Kenshin said stiffly.

 

Sanosuke rubbed the back of his uneasily, then finally burst out, "There's something weird about you!"

 

"Just figured that out, Sanosuke?" Yahiko laughed.

 

"No," he went on angrily.  "It's just...you're _little_.  And you--"  He broke off for a moment.  "How many people have you killed in just the last month?" he challenged, his eyes hard.

 

"None!" Kenshin and Kaoru burst out together, indignant.  "Kenshin hasn't even stolen anything," Kaoru went on defensively.  "All the animals he catches are wild."

 

"The perfect dragon, eh?" Sanosuke said skeptically.  "So you're expecting me to believe you've never killed anyone at all."

 

"Of course not," Kaoru insisted haughtily.  "Kenshin would _never_ do anything like that."

 

Everyone paused, then looked down at Kenshin, who had been silent.  He was fidgeting a little.

 

"Kenshin?" Kaoru insisted, and Sanosuke quietly clenched a hand into a fist.

 

"No human in the past ten years has lost life to this one," Kenshin finally said.  "Is that enough for you or no?"  The small body was coiled in readiness to continue fighting, but the eyes were free of even a tinge of gold.

 

Kaoru and Yahiko looked back and forth between them, until Sanosuke finally sighed.  "It's not enough," he said gruffly.  "The only good dragon is a dead dragon.  But...like I said, you're pretty weird."  He stabbed a finger in Kenshin's direction.  "I'll let you off the hook for today, but I'll be back.  You hear me?  I wanna be here to see you prove yourself no better than the rest of these monsters."

 

"How dare you--" Kaoru started, but broke off in surprise when Kenshin's tail curled soothingly around her ankle.

 

"It's all right, Kaoru-dono."

 

"But Kenshin--!"

 

"Really," he said quietly, not looking at any of them.  "It is far more than is to be expected from a hunter of dragons."  Kenshin and Sanosuke nodded to each other with the mutual respect of enemies.  Sanosuke retrieved his remaining weapons and walked off, raising a couple of fingers in salute without looking behind him.  Yahiko paused, then nodded and followed after him.

 

When they were out of sight, Kaoru knelt and pulled Kenshin back into her arms.  "Kenshin," she said worriedly.  "What did you mean, when you said you hadn't killed anyone in ten years?  Does that mean that...before that you...?"

 

He rested his head on her shoulder sadly.  "This one is a dragon, Kaoru-dono.  The life this one leads now is not...natural."

 

She bit her lip.  "Well, I like it better," she finally decided.

 

"This one does too," he agreed.

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  The opening scene came to me strongly, but when I wrote it down and waited for more, none came.  Finally I started typing something with Raijuuta and left it as a one-shot.  (I was not expecting all four of them to offer hints at a past, but none of them elaborated further.)

 

The anti-fire salve is from Robin McKinley's _The Hero and the Crown_ , and the cloak is from _Inuyasha_.


	3. My Dragon Husband

My Dragon Husband

A Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl

 

Summary:  Transformed into a horrible beast, Kaoru is miserable until her husband suddenly shows up. Unfortunately, he doesn't recognize her, and she must win his heart again before it's too late. KK

 

o.o.o

 

Kaoru shivered as she made her way down the street, clutching her shopping basket tightly in one hand and her shawl closer around her with the other.  She _hated_ the cold with a passion, but of course it had been a long time since she had been able to travel somewhere warmer.  Stuck here now, in this horrible little village, she sensed the people passing by her on either side, most of them silently giving her wide berth.  They did not hate her as she hated them, but they knew instinctively that she was different, and avoided her accordingly.

 

She could not stand it anymore.  She needed to find a place to warm up before completing her journey home.  Twilight was falling on this harsh autumn day, and she was not looking forward to another cold, lonely night.

 

With the reputation she had for being a bit uncanny, she doubted she could just take refuge in the inn's common room; she had to buy something so that they would not throw her out.  Sullenly, she set down some coin for a mug of ale, which she then placed in front of a depressed-looking man who seemed to want it more than she did.  Then she huddled by the fireplace and stared unblinking into the flames, thinking as always of the one she loved and had lost.

 

After a long time, when her body was finally starting to relax in the embrace of the fire's heat, snippets of the conversation around her began to trickle into her preoccupied mind.

 

"You can't be serious!"

 

"It's true then?  That monster's come _here_?"

 

"Aye," someone who apparently enjoyed storytelling was saying with relish.  "It was the Hitokiri, sure an' enough.  Set light t' half our village afore we lost 'im, but gor!  That devil was somethin' t' see.  We lost six good men to 'im; we ain't gonna rest 'til 'is head is mounted in the square!"

 

There was a surge of laughter, and Kaoru shuddered.  Hearing people talk like this disgusted her.  It reminded her of how creatures were hunted mercilessly for nothing more than defending their rightful territory.  If she had cared about the conversation, she would have preferred to reserve judgment on this "Hitokiri" before knowing both sides of the story.  These people were prone to exaggeration, deception, and selfish arrogance.

 

That night she lay curled in a nest of blankets and clutched a pillow in her arms, gazing out at the moon.  _'I miss you,'_ she cried out to him in her heart.  _'My love, my love, I miss you so much....'_   No matter how loudly or how often she called to him, he would not hear.  How could he, if he had never come for her?

 

In the morning she was sleepy and sluggish as she usually was in cold weather, and she did not venture out of her comfortable nest until the sun had long risen.  Then she dressed as warmly as she could and set off for the mountain slopes, meaning to gather more herbs today.  It had taken her some time to get re-acquainted with them, for they seemed to look and taste different now, and she had had to learn how to find them all over again.

 

On her way up the path she passed a freckled child who stuck his tongue out at her as she passed, a shepherd boy with his family's small flock of goats.  She hissed in response, and he yelped as if she had struck him, scrambling backward and making the sign to ward off evil.  She turned away in disinterest and resumed walking.

 

She almost did not pause at the boy's shout behind her, but then the light wavered slightly as something passed across the sun.  Kaoru's steps slowed and she glanced up, squinting.  Something was flying past, some creature that flashed ruby-red in the sunlight--

 

Kaoru gasped.  Then she dropped her basket, hitched up her wretched skirts and ran, desperate to keep the creature in her sight.  _'It can't be...it can't be...!'_

 

She was breathless as she followed the creature, not from the exercise, but from anticipation.  It could fly much faster than she could run, and the distance between them was lengthening rapidly.  "Oh please," she sobbed.  "Oh please, wait...."

 

It was circling now, flying lower and lower, and hope rose within her.  _'The lake,'_ she realized.  It meant to come down for a drink.  She put her head down and ran faster, now that she knew the way and did not have to keep her eyes on her quarry.

 

Bursting out from the bushes around the lake, Kaoru panted for breath and gasped in relief when she saw that the creature was still there.  It was finished drinking and had spread its wings to take off again, but it suddenly went stock-still when it caught her scent.

 

Her steps slowed as her eyes drank it in.  Lengthwise, the creature was a little bigger than her; standing, its head came about to her breastbone.  Its scales shone a brilliant, almost blinding shade of red in the sunlight, the color of fresh blood (that's right, he had always seemed immaculate, the blood of his prey blending in with his beautiful scales).  It was a dragon, there was no mistaking it, and her heart pounded with joy as she met its eyes - but then she received a jolt.

 

The eyes were not the warm violet color she remembered.  They were a harsh, piercing gold, devoid of either recognition or intelligence, and they struck terror into her human heart.

 

"My love...?" she whispered.

 

The dragon opened its mouth and snarled at her.  Suddenly choked by fear, Kaoru stumbled backward and tried to run, thinking distractedly in the back of her mind that the smell of her terror would only excite the creature even more.  Already she knew it was hopeless, but the dragon suddenly came snaking toward her at terrifying speed, and she sobbed when she realized she was going to die in his jaws, and he would never know.  To him, she was only prey now.  "I love you," she whispered.  Even if he could no longer understand, she wanted it to be the last thing he heard from her lips.

 

His snapping jaws were only inches away from her legs when a sudden thud cracked through the chill air.  The dragon reeled back with a howl, and turned venomous eyes to its attacker.  Kaoru sat there, gasping in shock, then scrambled around and saw the stupid little goat boy standing higher up on the slope.  The child was breathless and flushed with fear and excitement, clutching another rock to throw.  "Get out of here!" she shouted angrily at him.  "Go!"

 

Behind her the dragon roared, preparing to charge at this new prey, but then the bushy slopes suddenly seemed to explode with moving figures and furious yells.  Kaoru's eyes widened when she saw most of the men and some of the women from the village, their eyes gleaming with battle fury.  The boy must have summoned them--

 

Kaoru realized with a wash of cold horror that this dragon must be the Hitokiri.  He had slain humans, and now they were here to avenge their own.  "NO!" she shouted.

 

No one heeded her.  Some were flinging rocks at the dragon, as heavy as they could find; others surrounded it with pitchforks and scythes; arrows came showering down on it from above.  Two or three of these missiles lodged in the Hitokiri's wings, and it roared in maddened pain as it tried to take to the air and could not.  The air was filled with the flame of its breath, but that did not stop the merciless tide of human attackers.

 

"Stop it!" Kaoru shouted.  "Leave him alone!  _Stop it_!"  She tried to run to him, but someone pushed her roughly back.

 

"Get clear, Kaoru-san," he said roughly.  "We've got him now, you're safe."

 

"That's not what I WANT!" she cried furiously, her eyes burning with anger.

 

The crowd around the dragon was thickening.  Its hot, steaming blood singed the grass, and its howls suddenly rose into agonized shrieks as someone plunged a sword into its breast.

 

"NOOOO!!!" Kaoru screamed.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

That night, Kaoru tripped yet again and cursed her foggy senses, as she had so many times before.  If she could still see in the dark, she would be at his side in an instant.  "You can't see in the dark anymore," she whispered angrily to herself.  "Stop whining and keep moving.  He needs you."

 

Evading the guards' notice was easy, for they had prudently moved well away from their charge and could not see Kaoru in the darkness.  The dragon, moonlight gleaming faintly off its scales, was a humped shape in the center of the village:  a dangerous novelty on display.  Kaoru gritted her teeth when she saw the chains and ropes that bound his limbs and held him pinned to the ground, torture for a being that belonged in the sky.  She would kill them...if she ever found the opportunity, she would slaughter all of them like the savage little beasts they were....

 

Her steps slowed as she came close, for she knew that to approach a dragon carelessly was folly, no matter how helpless it seemed to be.  He knew she was there - a low, menacing growl slithered out from between his jaws, and his mad golden eyes rolled to look at her.  Her heart sank as she took in the tense lines of his body, the motion of his claws as they curled in readiness.  He did not know her.

 

"My love," she whispered, but she was hesitant, for this mindless creature was no longer the mate she knew.  She swallowed, and her eyes fell on the sword wound near his heart, which was still trickling blood.  A name fell heavily from her lips.  "Ken...shin."  The golden eyes blinked, the rage in them unresponsive.  "I will call you this," she said sadly, "while we are among these humans, who go about with names for fear they will forget each other."

 

The low growl turned into a panicked snarl when she came closer.  The muscles under his crimson hide strained, but the bonds held firm.  "I'm so sorry," she told him, her heart aching.  "Kenshin...I would free you, but you would kill me if I did, and then you would be lost forever."

 

She realized suddenly that she could not feed him.  Perhaps she could bring broth next time, though she wasn't sure if he would take it; but in this moment she dared not touch the chain that sealed his mouth.

 

She could give him a drink, at least.  Unstoppering the jug, she carefully held it over his snout and tipped it, so that water came trickling through his clenched fangs onto his tongue.  At the touch of it, he jerked so violently that she actually jumped back, startled.  For a moment he was raging, but then he went limp and the golden eyes widened, staring at her.

 

There were voices in the darkness, from the distant guards.  One of them was cursing.  "Why won't that beast shut up?"

 

" _You_ wanna go see what the problem is?" another shot back.  There was some grumbling and shifting, then silence.

 

Cautiously, Kaoru came close again and poured more water into the dragon's mouth.  This time he did not resist, though she could see that it was difficult for him to swallow.  He wrenched his head back and forth in distress, half-choking; she held back a sob as she watched him, both of them so helpless.  Then he found by accident a certain way of tossing his head back that made the water go down his throat, and for a few more minutes she carefully trickled more water into his mouth and he swallowed.  Then he fixed those eyes on her again and growled.

 

Slowly, not meeting his gaze directly, she moved her arm as close as she dared to his nose, so he could get her scent clearly.  The growling stopped for a moment, but then surged up again, louder than before, when she moved out of his sight.  "I want to look at your injuries," she told him, though of course he did not understand.

 

The sword wound was the worst, for it was deep and had not been treated.  The only other significant damage she could see were the arrows still caught in his wings.  She briefly closed her eyes, then went back to his head, where he spit a half-choked snarl at her.  "Kenshin," she said quietly.  "I'm going to have to hurt you.  I am so sorry, but I must.  I hope you will be able to forgive me."

 

He did not understand her words, but she knew that her apprehension was leaking into her scent because he began to thrash, growling louder than ever.  She realized that she must do this quickly, before the guards' sense of duty overrode their fear.  Wasting no more time, she dashed around to Kenshin's back, and he howled the moment she left his sight again.  His wings swayed with the violence of his struggles, making it difficult for her to reach them.  When she managed to grab the wing with three arrows in it, his howls rose into shrieks at her touch, but he could do nothing to stop her from wrenching out arrow after arrow.  There was no time to be gentle.  Even as she grabbed for the other wing, she could hear human footsteps running in the darkness, and raised voices.

 

The last arrow was out.  No chance of treating the wounds now, but they were small and would not need much help from her to heal.  She circled around again and shouted at the men who were now striking the dragon, enraging it all the more, its shrieks intensified by pain and rapidly increasing anger.  "Stop that!" she cried angrily.  Then she sucked in a breath, remembering that she had to school her behavior while in the presence of the humans.  "Please, stop.  There is a better way."

 

"Kaoru-san," one of the men snapped.  "What are you doing here?  Go home, this is no place for a woman."  The other guards came crowding around, angry as they clutched their crude weapons and shot venomous looks at the dragon.

 

"I can send him to sleep," she told them coldly.  "Leave this to me; I will make sure he does not trouble you."

 

"Kaoru-san--"

 

"Do you want him to die before you can make use of him?!"  She winced at the hysterical note that had crept into her voice, but was relieved when they eyed each other and finally shook their heads, still looking distrustful.  "Then start a fire," she snapped.  She turned and went to find the package of herbs she had thought it best to bring just in case.

 

The odor from the burning herbs reached them even when they had backed away a safe distance.  It seemed to take ages before the effect finally crept over the captured dragon, but eventually his howls died down to muted growling, his wild thrashing slowed to a drunken sway, and at long last he lay still.  The nasty laughter of the relieved men made Kaoru sick.

 

"See?" she said shortly.  "There are better ways of subduing him than trying to bludgeon him into silence."

 

"Thank you, Kaoru-san," they told her, with a sincerity of gratitude that surprised her.  One of them even offered to walk her home.

 

"No...no."  She added awkwardly, "Thank you, but I will be all right."  She pretended to leave, hiding in the shadows until she was sure they had all retreated.  A few of the more suspicious ones lingered, and she watched with frustration, hating them.  She hated even more the ones who stole the opportunity to give the helpless dragon a few vicious strikes, but at last they left him alone, and she was free to creep back to Kenshin's side.

 

He lay completely still, his scaled sides rising and falling as he breathed.  His eyelids trembled, but he would not awaken for hours.  Biting her lip, Kaoru moved close to the wound in his breast and set to work.  She had herbs to stop the bleeding and to speed healing, and was able at least to clean all the blood and dirt away.  He would recover.  He _had_ to, before it was too late.

 

She had decided that no matter how wild he still was by the time appointed for his death, she would free him.  Even if he killed her for it, she would free him.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kaoru had been out herb-gathering all morning to replenish her stocks, so it was not until late in the afternoon that she returned and realized what had been happening in her absence.  Hearing the sound of muffled dragon cries from the village square, she tucked her bundle under her arm and ran.

 

The square was full, though not with the usual bustle of people going about their business.  It seemed like everyone who had any time to spare was gathered around the captured dragon, shouting as they tormented him, laughing gleefully at his vain efforts to fight back.  Even children were darting forward to cast stones at the creature, no matter how much they were yelled at to keep back where it was safe.

 

Kaoru nearly screamed with rage equal to the dragon's, wishing she could torch the entire lot of them.  Instead she marched her way through the crowd, shoving people violently aside, until she reached a clear space near the dragon's head.  As she turned to face the crowd, planted her feet, and set her hands on her hips, she had just time enough to think to herself, _'It's not a dragon's rage you need now, it's a human's.  Be careful, or you'll be no help to him.'_   That is why the words, "What on _earth_ do you think you're doing?" came out spine-chillingly low, rather than in a shriek.

 

The crowd grew quiet and shifted uneasily.

 

"Kaoru-san...."

 

"It's the witch."

 

"Hush, you want her to hear you?!"

 

"You fools," she spat, ignoring their nervous murmuring.  "Have you no respect?  You think that your...that the 'earth mother' will be pleased with an offering that's been crazed by abuse?"  It made her tongue tingle unpleasantly to talk of their strange gods, and she had to remind herself again to pretend to be human.  "The Hitokiri is supposed to be your windfall, your treasure, your miracle whose blood will save your crops so that you will not starve.  _Treat him as such_."  She turned to the dragon and approached slowly, stopping within a safe distance.

 

At the nearness of her presence he went completely silent except for a very low, unbroken growl.  His burning eyes were fixed on her warily, but - he knew her.  Not as his mate of course, but as the one human creature that had showed him any hint of kindness.  Kaoru went breathless with a sudden rush of hope.  _'I will see you again tonight, my love,'_ she thought at him.

 

She bowed.  Then she walked away.  The crowd parted for her and soon dispersed, muttering.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

She brought broth that night as well as water, and more medicine.  This time he made no noise at her approach, but his chains clinked as he raised his head as much as he could, his crest and wings raised, his glowing eyes alert to her every move.  His nostrils flared a little when she was close, and smoke began to trail nervously out of his bound mouth.  He growled when she came within reach.

 

"Hush.  You know me, Kenshin."  She stood very close to his nose, watching him, and he watched her back as he took in her scent.  He blinked and stopped growling, but did not otherwise move.  "All right?"

 

He blinked again, then narrowed his eyes.

 

Kaoru sighed.  "I wish you could somehow understand these human words."

 

He did not move.

 

"All right.  Let's try the broth this time."  He snorted and shook his head at the taste of it, letting it dribble back out, but when she cautiously tried to pour in some more, he did not resist.  He snarled and grumbled as he ate, obviously displeased with the meal, yet he was also starving enough to accept it.  Kaoru bit her lip, the only sign of her anger at his captors.

 

When he had eaten it all and she offered him water, he tossed his head in surprise at the change in liquids, but then took the rest gratefully.  He was swallowing like an expert by now, as if he had drunk in this awkward fashion all his life.  When Kaoru had no more to give him, he pinned his gaze on her again, intent on what she meant to do next.

 

He was right to be distrustful.  At the smell of the herbs, he snarled and shifted violently but could not stop her from treating his wounds.  His wings flapped and he tried to stab his face at her, but the chains severely limited his reach.  Finally she straightened up and glared at him.  "Now stop that, Kenshin.  How do you expect to heal properly when you won't even hold still for me to help you?"

 

He glared at her, growling.

 

"Hush.  I know you didn't ask for it, but you've got no choice in the matter.  Now behave."

 

He understood the tone if not the words.  In answer he lowered his head to hers and snorted ash into her hair.

 

Kaoru grinned up at him.  "Do you honestly think that's going to--  bother--"  She broke off, coughing; she had not expected the ash to irritate her ridiculously sensitive human eyes.  She struggled to recover, coughing and rubbing at her streaming eyes, then finally managed to turn back to him.

 

He was still watching her warily.  She pushed him.  He growled and stabbed at her again.  She sighed.  "We're not going to get very far this way."  She put him to sleep again with the burning herbs, and finished her work in silent loneliness.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

The villagers were at it again the next day, though they went still when Kaoru approached.  She glared, and some of them glared back, but their cruel amusement resumed only half-heartedly, and they soon dispersed.

 

That night Kaoru found Kenshin waiting for her.  His greeting this time was a purring sigh, rather than a growl.  "Are you happy to see me?" she asked hopefully.  He pushed at her with his head so that she nearly dropped her basket.  "Oh.  You're happy to see the food, aren't you," she realized ruefully.  He looked at her with his golden eyes.  "All right then, let's see how much better at this we're getting."

 

He had learned what to expect, and was almost friendly as she fed him the broth and gave him water.  Of course he also knew what else happened during these night visits.  When she brought out the medicine, he snarled and tried to shift away from her.  "Now Kenshin, come on.  Let me look at you."

 

He braced his head against her and pushed her away.  It made her pause, for while the gesture had been firm, it was surprisingly gentle for a violent-natured wild thing like him.  She looked more closely at his eyes and found that they were no longer glowing - the color had faded, but their expression was much clearer.  So his rage was dying, at least when she was around.  It was a good sign.  "Kenshin," she whispered.

 

Longing for her mate, she pushed her face against his, trying to embrace him in the dragon way.  It worked only partially, but she could tell he was surprised.  He sniffed closely at her, as if double-checking to make sure she was really human.  "What do you think, Kenshin?" she asked bitterly.  "Am I human?  Is there any ash left at all in my scent?"

 

He lowered his head and looked up at her, sighing thoughtfully.  When she shook her head and focused back on the sword wound, his head shot up again and he snarled.  "Stop that," she snapped at him.  Bracing herself against his scales, she tried to ward him off as she worked, noting with satisfaction that the wound in his breast was healing nicely.  For a moment she wished that her tears were still what they had used to be, but then she recognized that even if they were, she could not exactly cry on command.  The human medicines were the next best thing, and she had to use what she had.

 

When Kaoru had finished, she went back up to his head.  He looked away from her, grumbling.  "I know it hurts," she said apologetically, "but not as much, right?"

 

He rested his head on the ground, still not looking at her, and did not respond.

 

Kaoru hesitated, then leaned over and kissed him.  His hot scales were uncomfortable against her lips, but she welcomed the heat, wishing that she could take it into herself and warm up again.  When she straightened, he rolled his eyes up to her questioningly, but did not move.  "It's how humans say 'I love you,'" she told him.  "I love you, Kenshin."

 

He closed his eyes, as if to go to sleep.

 

"Fine," she said, giving him a little kick.  He opened his eyes again and raised his head in surprise.  "I'll tell you again when you can understand, and then you had better tell me that you love me, too."

 

He studied her.  His eyes were dark now, and deeper than ever.  Kaoru stared into them for a long time.  Then she went away.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

On the fourth night, as she made her way through the village, Kaoru glanced up at the moon and shuddered.  It was waning at what she felt was an alarming rate; they were running out of time.  That was why she was so glad to find, when she reached Kenshin, that his eyes were once again a soft violet.

 

"Kenshin," she whispered happily.  "You've come back."

 

He sniffed at her searchingly, looking for the food.  Kaoru hesitated.  Then she laid her things aside and reached for his face.

 

His eyes on her were intent, but he let his head rest trustingly in her hands.  She touched the chain that bound his mouth, looking for the lock.  Then, decisively, she reached for the keys that she had stolen in preparation for this moment.

 

She did not know which key it was.  Finding the right one was a long process, since she had to try each key one by one, and Kenshin did not like it.  He shook his head back and forth, trying to throw her off; she finally sat on his neck so she could work more easily, and he resorted to growls and plaintive whimpers.  "Don't you see I'm trying to get this abomination off you?" she said in exasperation.

 

When she was successful, she gasped in delight and then tried to tug the chain free.  It was the last straw; he tossed her to the ground and shook his head violently, growling and crying out in discomfort.

 

"Kenshin, wait, let me--"  She got back to her feet and reached for the end of the chain dangling from his restlessly moving face.  She tried to unwind it, but he pulled free and scraped his face against the ground angrily, snarling again, his eyes beginning to glimmer with gold.

 

"Kenshin!" she cried, almost forgetting to keep her voice down.  She could tell that the far-off guards were getting uneasy.  "Kenshin, stay with me!"

 

The chain came free, slithering to the ground with a rattling clunk.  He did not seem to realize it at first, but continued to shake his head back and forth, groaning in distress.  Then his jaws cracked open for the first time in days.  The sounds he made were heartwrenching, croaking and snapping as his tongue flicked in and out, trying to soothe the pain.  Blood was welling up where the chains had chafed.

 

"Kenshin, my love," she whispered.  "Come here so I can help you."

 

He ignored her.  He raised his head as high as he could and emitted a sudden burst of flame at the sky.  It was small and weak, from hunger and from the pain in his newly-freed mouth, but the roar that came with it was triumphant.

 

Kaoru closed her eyes in panic, knowing that the guards would be brought running by the noise.  She had to keep them away from Kenshin....

 

Kaoru ran to meet them, deliberately calling attention to herself, babbling on about how she was preparing for the rite, and that they must disregard the beast's howls, she had it under control.  Her speech and gestures took on a dramatic air, for she was desperate that they focus on her rather than the dragon with its missing bonds.

 

"Two days hence," she intoned impressively, "the blood of the Hitokiri will be spilled for the sake of our crops, for the pleasure of the earth mother.  You have mistreated your offering to her, and the earth mother is angry.  I will step in on your behalf, I will appease her anger, but you must allow me to prepare the Hitokiri without disturbance."  It was the first nonsense that came into her head, and it suddenly made her angry that she could sound so much like one of the little human monsters.

 

"Kaoru-san," they were saying doubtfully, their eyes straying to the restless dragon.

 

"We thought we heard...."

 

"Weren't that fire--?"

 

Kaoru raised her head imperiously and was silent.  For a minute no one moved.  Then some of the guards began backing away reluctantly, muttering about sorcery; Kaoru resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

 

"We'll have to ask the headmen about this," someone finally said.  "It won't be long now, Kaoru-san.  Not certain what you're up to, but...in a couple days, it'll all be over."

 

"We will be ready," she said coldly.

 

The one who had spoken nodded, and turned away.  Following his lead, the others left more quickly, some shooting nervous looks over their shoulders at Kaoru.

 

Her hands were clenched.  "Monstrous little...."  She shook her head.  They were no longer her concern; her mate had come back to her at last, and once again it was their survival that was most important.

 

Kaoru went back to the agitated Kenshin to finish releasing him.  She began to realize how it must be for humans sometimes, unable to communicate with every other beast in the world.  The moment Kenshin found a part of himself free, he eagerly doubled his efforts against the rest of his bonds, not realizing that he would be released sooner if he stayed still.  She understood; she remembered the instinct to seize the first opportunity with no logical thought at all.  All the same, it was frustrating that he could not understand her speech, that all she had to interpret his own speech were her weak human eyes.

 

"Kenshin!  Hold _still_!"

 

He shot more flame into the air as he thrashed around, frustrated that half of him was free and the rest of him was still stuck to the ground.

 

She finally tried a dragon call, one that meant something like, _"Lie low."_   The sound of the awful croaking coming from her throat, virtually unrecognizable and unbelievably weak in comparison to a dragon's voice, made her squeeze her eyes shut in mortification - but she quickly opened them again when she realized that Kenshin had quieted.  He was staring at her in surprise.  She tried again, feeling her cheeks burn because _she_ couldn't even tell what she was saying.

 

His eyes alight with curiosity, he wriggled forward and nudged her with his snout, his tongue flicking out at her.  The moist heat of it scorched her skin, but she didn't care; she was reaching up gladly to run her hands over his scales.  "I'm so sorry, my love.  Did you even understand a thing I said?"

 

He grunted, the smelly heat of his breath washing over her, beautiful and sweet in its familiarity.

 

"Huh," she murmured in surprise.  "Your breath stinks.  I never noticed before.  Perhaps it's no wonder humans don't like us."

 

Now that she had his attention, she went back to work.  She laughed when his head followed her and butted at her in puzzled annoyance, wondering why she was not still trying to talk to him.  "Almost done, Kenshin."  She unlocked the last chain and cast it away.  Kenshin, not noticing at first, licked her again and made conversational noises.

 

She put her hands on either side of his face and looked into his eyes.  "Kenshin," she said softly.  "You are free now.  We must escape."

 

He was overjoyed when he realized it.  He leaped immediately into the sky, then scrambled ungracefully back to the ground and made a very long whine of distress and hurt.

 

"Kenshin!"  She ran to him, cursing herself for not having had the presence of mind to grab hold of him when he had taken off, and utterly grateful that somehow he was not leaving her after all.  "Ken--"  She stopped.  The sword wound was bleeding again.  It was still hurting him, he could not fly.

 

"It's all right, my love," she whispered, tears smarting her eyes.  "We will just have to walk, like humans.  I have been doing it for a while now; it's not so bad."

 

He kept keening for his lost flight, even after she managed to pull at him hard enough to make him follow her.  It worried her that the guards would notice his noise moving away - would realize that they were escaping.  "Sssh, ssh.  Kenshin, hush."  He did not respond; her words meant nothing to him.  Far away she heard restless voices, and her fear spiked.  "Kenshin!"  She began to run.  He followed her with awkward strides, trying forlornly not to outpace her.

 

They ran and then walked until they were exhausted, and then they hid.  He did not like the dampness of the little cave, but he soon curled up with a sigh and fell asleep at once.  Kaoru dragged herself over and looked at him, realizing that in his pain and distress he must have had very little sleep over the last few days.  She tried to stay awake, listening for pursuers, but she too was tired.  She fell asleep slumped against his hot scales.

 

She dreamed, as she so often did, of being a dragon.  _Alone.  Coming-- enemy, two-legged; danger!  Flame, fight.  Killed it._   The last words on dying lips, a curse.  _Pain, confusion.  Hard to see, hard to breathe.  What's happened to me?!  I...I'm...!_

 

Some time the next day, she woke with a start to the sound of chillingly familiar voices.  Terror shot through her; she was on her feet at once, her heart pounding.  She heard Kenshin stir behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder to find that he had raised his head.  He must have smelled the humans outside, for he rose and crept in utter silence to the cave mouth.

 

"Kenshin!"  Her voice was a terrified thread of a whisper.  "No, come back!"

 

Taking no notice of her objection, he snaked outside.  There was a sudden roar of flames, and the air was rent by horrible cries.  "Kenshin!"  Not bothering to keep her voice down this time, she rushed outside.

 

She stared and stared at the charred bodies for a long time, thinking of the Hitokiri these people had seen in her mate, thinking that they had mates of their own back in the village.  Thinking of their need for spilled blood.  "Kenshin," she said quietly, laying a hand on his neck.  "Let's go."

 

They kept on the move, surviving, waiting, healing.  She found that he would stay awake when she slept, and it became a pattern, an exchange, as they kept guard over each other.  He caught their food, which they both ate burned black.  She tried to practice making better dragon calls, which first confused and then amused him; he made nonsense sounds at her, trying to imitate human speech.  Many times as they ate or rested, they just sat and gazed into each other's eyes, wondering.

 

 _'Why are you staying with me, protecting me?'_ she thought.  _'I am a human, the enemy.'_   She might have cared for him in his captivity, but that did not change what she was now.  She remembered how she had used to think of humans - mindless, savage animals, not worth a second thought, except to eat during lean times or to defend oneself from.  She knew now that they had lives and loves and speech of their own, every bit as complex as that of dragons, but how could he know that?

 

Tears were leaking slowly out of Kenshin's unblinking violet eyes.  They hissed into steam when they hit the ground.

 

Her heart pounding, Kaoru crawled close to him.  He did not move, except to flick his tongue out at her in sad greeting.  "Do you weep for me?" she whispered.  "For your lost mate?"  Trembling, she reached out to touch the dragon tears, then pressed herself against his face and let them pour over her.

 

The tears burned her skin; she cried out in pain but did not move even when her flesh felt like it was boiling.  She felt sick, and she bent over to clutch at her stomach and squeeze her aching eyes shut.  The heat did not fade, but it grew first bearable and then delightful.  Her skin had erupted into an intense itching all over, but then the discomfort slid away like water and she did not even notice it going.  The world was tilting; she lost her balance and fell, hearing the crackle of her skin and the cracking of her bones.  Her teeth ached, grew, sharpened; then that pain too went away.  In the end she lay limp and shaking, but overjoyed.

_"My love,"_ she whispered in a rumbling hiss.

 

He was nosing at her, licking her, caressing her with his wings, his tail whipping excitedly.  _"My love,"_ he murmured into her mind, _"my love, at last this one has found you.  You were lost, all was lost.  This one went mad with searching, that he did."_

 

She raised her head and licked him.  _"I know.  I saw your golden eyes."_

 

He stared at her, aghast to learn that she had been prey in his sight.  _"You?  That little two-legged thing...."_

_"Ah, Sword-heart, that was me,"_ she said, translating his new name from sounds to thought. _"I cared for you as best I could in that human form.  Now I will care for you properly again."_

 

He had tilted his head in puzzlement, trying to understand the concept of Name.  _"What is it you call this one?"_

 

She smiled a dragon smile.  _"You are still my love, but you are also Sword-heart.  The humans do this to call and to claim."_

_"Ah."_   He smiled back.  _"Then you are Fire-heart, that you are.  After so much calling, you have come, and you are claimed, just as you have claimed this one forever."_

 

She was so happy, for the first time in so long, that she was weeping.  She got to her feet and went to him, and let her tears fall on his wound.  He shuddered as the healing spread through him, then with a cry he surged up and took to the sky.  She was beside him, soaring with him, and they danced in the air together once again, singing in joy and triumph.

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  This is the only fic where I've given in to the anime and let Kenshin have purple eyes, since he's a dragon here.  I'm fairly sure his eyes are supposed to be blue, which is more realistic in any case.  This is also the closest I'll get to the unpleasant fandom!Battousai characterization.


	4. [There Will Be A Next Time]

[There Will Be A Next Time]

(rough draft)

A Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl

 

Summary:  Tomoe & Kaoru receive a couple of visitors. AU

 

o.o.o

 

There was a sudden, unexpected knock on the door, and ebony eyes met sapphire as the sisters looked at each other.  "It's late," Kaoru muttered uncertainly.  Tomoe silently held out her hand, and Kaoru quickly moved across to her.  They stared at the door silently, two young women alone on a cold winter night, far from anyone who could help them if they found themselves in danger.

 

"Open the door!" shouted a male voice, the subsequent foul language doing nothing to convince the girls to comply.

 

"Sano," came a second muffled voice from behind the door, "that's probably not the best form of persuasion, that it is not."

 

More cursing.  "Fine, you're right.  Oi!" he shouted again, perfectly audiable through the thick wood.  "I've got a nice little bishounen here, prettiest thing you'll ever see!  If you let us in, he'll do all your chores."

 

"Bishounen?" came the soft second voice, sounding injured.  "This one hasn't been that young in quite some time, Sano."

 

"Tell that to your face.  Oi!  I know you're there, I can smell the fire!  Let us in before we freeze to death and haunt you in revenge!"

 

Kaoru glanced at her sister again.  "Weirdest pair I've ever encountered, and that's including those Hiruma sickos."

 

"We shouldn't," Tomoe said softly.  "Mother and Father are gone, there is no one to protect us."

 

The brazen voice from outside spoke up again, seeming careless of whether the girls could hear.  "Ah, forget this.  Futae no kiwami!"

 

"Sano, don't--!"  But it was too late.  The door abruptly burst into powder and shards of wood.  When the girls lowered their sleeves from their faces, they found two men standing in the doorway, almost as different-looking from each other as the Hiruma brothers had been.  The difference was that each was quite handsome in his own way.  The one who had obviously been shouting was very tall and young, with spiky dark hair, a cocky set of the head, and eyes glimmering with spirit despite the annoyed frown currently bending his mouth.  His companion was small and indeed very pretty, with long hair a startling shade of red and large scars on his face in the shape of a cross.  It was hard to believe that he was the adult he had claimed to be.

 

"Please pardon the intrusion," the redhead was pleading.  "This one's partner is kind of, er, stupid when it comes to matters of tact, that he is."

 

Said partner immediately grabbed the redhead in a chokehold, casually glancing back over at the girls as he did so.  "Oi, sorry to blow up your door and all that, but we need to stay here for the night."

 

"Deepest apologies," the rehead whimpered, obviously have a difficult time breathing.

 

"Are you crazy?" Kaoru said indignantly to the spiky-haired one.  "Let him go!  He's the _nice_ one!"

 

"You hear that, Kenshin?  She called you nice," the spiky-haired man laughed, releasing his reproachful-looking companion.  "Guess she hasn't heard the stories."

 

"What stories?" Kaoru growled.  "Who _are_ you weirdos, anyway?"

 

"Himura Kenshin," the redhead said apologetically.  "And this is Sagara Sanosuke.  Please forgive the intrusion."

 

"Sagara Sanosuke?" Tomoe murmured, raising an eyebrow.

 

"And proud of it," Sanosuke said defiantly.  "Captain Sagara was the best man alive.  You got a problem with the name?"

 

"No," Tomoe assured him calmly, "I just found it a rather...interesting combination."

 

"Tomoe, leave him alone," Kaoru said in exasperation.  "What are we going to do?  Now our door's broken and we've got two strange men to deal with."

 

"We are so sorry.  Would you like this one to cook supper?" Kenshin offered contritely.

 

"Only if Sagara-san offers his assistance as well," Tomoe said.  Kaoru glanced at her sister, shaking her head.  The older girl's face was completely deadpan, but Kaoru could tell that she was in one of her mischievous moods.  Apparently this Sagara Sanosuke had caught her interest.

 

"What?" Sanosuke exclaimed, startled.  "Me?  Cook?  No way, that's Kenshin's job.  _Kenshin's_!"

 

Tomoe bowed.  "Very well.  Then kindly allow me to escort you out, Sagara-san."

 

" _Excuse_ me?"

 

"Himura-san has offered to earn his keep," Tomoe pointed out demurely.  "Have you some other redeeming skill?"

 

"Besides snarfing down enough food for ten men in half as many minutes?" Kenshin mumbled teasingly.

 

"Ah, shut up, you!  Look lady, I'll chop your wood or something, but I ain't gettin' close to a kitchen."

 

Tomoe nodded her assent.  "Then I believe you and my younger sister will get along very well."

 

"Hey!" Kaoru burst out.  "My cooking may not be top-notch, but at least I can do better than a _man_!"

 

Tomoe pursed her lips, but all she said was a noncommittal, "Hm."  Kaoru looked at her in exasperation.  The arrival of the two unwanted guests had apparently raised her sister's spirits considerably - Tomoe's teasing kind of creeped Kaoru out, and there was only so much she could take.

 

"That's only 'cause you haven't had Kenshin's food yet, Jouchan," Sanosuke told Kaoru with a wink, before heading back outside to chop wood or something.

 

o.o.o

 

Kaoru could not believe it.  The redhead's cooking _was_ better than hers.  In fact, it was delicious.  "This is not _fair_ ," she fumed, banging down her empty bowl.

 

Kenshin looked alarmed.  "A-Apologies, Kaoru-dono.  Was the meal not to your liking?"

 

"It was delicious!" Kaoru shouted at him.

 

"Oro?!"

 

"Please do not be offended, Himura-san.  I apologize for my sister's behavior."

 

"Ah, no, it seems to be this one's fault--"

 

Sanosuke was laughing.  "I like you, Jouchan.  You're funny.  Oi, lady, you haven't happened to have seen some shifty guys around, have you?"

 

"How come she's a 'lady' and I'm just a 'jouchan'?" Kaoru exclaimed indignantly.

 

"Please do not be offended, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin pleaded, "This one apologizes for his friend's behavior."

 

"Don't bother!"

 

"No, Sagara-san."  That was Tomoe.  "We have not.  Is this a fortunate thing?"

 

"For you, yeah, I guess," the young man grumbled.  "But I swear, my hands are _itching_ for Shishio's neck...."

 

"And Shishio-san is...?"

 

"A very dangerous man, Tomoe-dono," Kenshin said seriously.  "If you ever see him, stay out of his way.  He and his men recently arrived in these parts, and we have a...slight hindrance to opposing them, that we do."

 

"It'd probably help if we knew what these guys looked like," Kaoru said pointedly.

 

Sanosuke laughed.  "Believe me, you'll know him.  Looks like he's been spitted and roasted, and his minions are a pretty motley crew."

 

"Oh, I see," Kaoru said with a wicked grin.  "Like you two, you mean."

 

"Oi!  We are _nothing_ like that crazy pack of murderers!" Sanosuke insisted.

 

There was a sudden hush.  "Murderers?" Kaoru said incredulously.

 

"Well," Kenshin clarified, "that is more a by-product of their main activities, which is to gain power in these lands.  Sano and this one have been trying to stop him, but...as was said before, there is a slight problem."

 

"Care to divulge?" Kaoru suggested.

 

"But really," Kenshin said hurriedly, as if continuing what he had been saying, "we two are very grateful for your hospitality, that we are."

 

"Unsubtle changing of subjects," Kaoru grumbled under her breath, but saw that it was useless to press the issue.

 

Baths were a slight problem.  Before, Tomoe and Kaoru would have simply taken turns with no inhibition, but now there were two men in their home and the only other room in the house, the bedroom, had no door.

 

"We could hang up a sheet," Sanosuke suggested.

 

"And have you two peeking through?  No way," Kaoru shot back.  "You two go outside and give us some privacy."

 

"Er...but then what will you ladies do while we...ah..." Kenshin fumbled.

 

"We'll hang up a sheet!" Kaoru snapped, her face red.  "Now get out!"

 

Sanosuke rolled his eyes as he and his companion were hustled out of the house.  "Geez," he said when the door had slammed behind them.  "Pushy little thing."

 

"They are being very kind to us, that they are," Kenshin said, wrapping his arms around himself and trying not to shiver too hard.

 

"Yeah, great hospitality," Sanosuke remarked, kicking at the frosty ground.  Then both of them stood very still for a while and listened to the sounds of splashing water and soft, feminine voices from inside.

 

Then one of them screamed.

 

"What the--?!"

 

"Kaoru-dono!"  Without pausing to think, Kenshin burst back into the house, sword at the ready - and was presented with the sight of Kaoru, standing up in the bath, hand over her mouth, eyes huge as she stared at the corner where Tomoe was holding a squirming furry thing trapped in the folds of a cloth.

 

"It's only a mouse come in from the cold, Kaoru," she was saying soothingly.  Then her eyes fell on Kenshin and turned very cold.

 

"It was under my _towel_!" Kaoru shrieked, but then noticed the direction of her sister's gaze.  Her head whipped around and she saw Kenshin, gaping like a fish in the doorway and forgetting to breathe.  For a moment, everyone was frozen.  The cold air from outside raised goosepimples on Kaoru's tender flesh.

 

Then Sanosuke moved into the doorway and whistled.  "Nice, Kenshin."

 

Kaoru's face flooded crimson.  "HENTAI!!!" she screamed, and began hurling things at the men.  She managed three or four good hits before she remembered that she still had no clothes on.  " **'NEESAN!!!!!!!!!!** "

 

"Geez," Sanosuke mumbled a few minutes later, as he and his companion were locked in the storage shed.  "No one's ever going to marry that psycho."

 

Kenshin was slumped against the door and looked too mortified to answer.

 

After an hour of punishment when the two men thought they were going to die of cold and Kenshin only just barely managed to keep Sanosuke's Futae no Kiwami in check, Kaoru finally deigned to let them out of the shed and back to the fire, uttering dire threats the whole way.  She and Kenshin avoided eye contact like the plague, tending to speak to each other only as indirectly as possible.

 

"You know - Sagara-san - since you're the ones in _our_ home, you should be following _our_ rules, and that means, um, no guests are allowed to bring weapons in the house."

 

"You see a weapon on me, Jouchan?"

 

"...."

 

"Perhaps your friend would be willing to abide by the rule as well," Tomoe hinted, and her sister threw her a grateful look.

 

Kenshin looked down at his sword unhappily.  "This one...supposes that if it is only for a little while, you may take this sword into your safekeeping."

 

Kaoru immediately marched up, snatched the weapon away, and hugged it to herself protectively.  It was bad enough having to harbor a couple of peeping toms; they didn't need sharp pointy objects in their possession on top of that.  "Thanks," she snapped curtly, and went to put it under her sleeping mat.  She'd sleep on top of the sword all night if she had to.

 

"Please be careful with it," Kenshin begged.  "It would be very difficult to find a replacement."

 

"The life of a traveler is hard," Tomoe said sympathetically, kneeling to refill the men's tea cups.  (Sanosuke looked as if he would have liked something stronger than tea, but wisely stopped himself from asking in time.)

 

"Oh - it's not the money," Kenshin started to explain.

 

"It's not _all_ about the money," Sanosuke corrected, trying and failing not to slurp down the whole cupful in one swallow.  "But even if there was a sakabatô seller on every street corner, you'd still have to come up with the cash from _somewhere_."

 

"Sakabatô?" Kaoru said in surprise.  "You mean--?"  Her eyes accidentally met Kenshin's, and she ripped them back away with a blush.  Instead, she pulled the sword back out of its hiding place and unsheathed it curiously.  Sure enough, the blade was reversed, with its sharper edge facing the wrong way.  "You can't kill anyway with this!" she exclaimed.

 

"Got a problem with that?" Sanosuke said in amusement.

 

"Huh?  Uh - no, it's just...um...."  Kaoru looked at Kenshin again, this time in a new light.  "It's just, um, interesting."

 

"Enough human life has been taken by these hands," Kenshin murmured to his tea cup.  "It will not happen ever again."

 

"How d'ya expect to take down Shishio, then?" Sanosuke pointed out.  "For crying out loud, if you won't kill him and you won't let _me_ kill him, how are we gonna take him down?  Talk him to death?"

 

"When the time comes, there will be a way."

 

"Yeah, yeah.  Hey, you gals don't happen to have anything...you know, stronger than tea around, would ya?"

 

The sisters did not even have to say a word to each other to agree that they would sleep in shifts.  Tomoe simply took up a sewing project and worked quietly throughout Kaoru's preparations for bed.  The older girl conversed easily and quietly with the men, who showed no indications of getting sleepy.  Sanosuke ended up conking out about the same time Kaoru drifted off to sleep, but by the time she re-awakened in response to her sister's gentle nudge, Tomoe and Kenshin seemed to have been conversing for a long time.

 

"Private business," Kaoru grunted in response to Kenshin's anxious inquiry about whether he had disturbed her.  He said nothing when she came back and Tomoe lay down on her futon.

 

After a long while, when Tomoe's breathing had become deep and even, he ventured, "You...er, are no longer tired, Kaoru-dono?"

 

"Nope," she said, too loudly.  Sanosuke rolled over and snorted in his sleep.  "I've got all the rest I need," Kaoru added in a whisper.  Then they sat there for a minute in uncomfortable silence.

 

"This one...once again apologizes, deeply, for...er, what happened earlier."

 

"Don't mention it," Kaoru mumbled sourly.  "Please.  Ever again."  She added under her breath that was not meant to be overheard, "Jerk."  He winced, which meant he must have had sharper ears than she thought.

 

The silence dragged on again, and Kaoru wished for the first time in her life that she was good at sewing.  Or something.  Anything to take the edge off the boredom.  "So...if you don't kill people anymore, does that mean you used to?"

 

"Yes.  It is an uncomfortable subject."

 

Well, there went that conversation starter.  "So are you...not sleepy?"

 

"Too much to think about," Kenshin confessed.  "This one does not need much sleep, anyway."

 

"Oh."  She sighed.  "Great."

 

There was a pause.  Then he said softly, "Kaoru-dono, you have nothing to fear.  The two of us truly mean you no harm, and we can protect you from any outside dangers.  Please rest."

 

"I'm _not tired_ ," she snarled.

 

He looked away and did not bring the subject up again.

 

They ended up talking about other things, however, throughout the long night.  Kaoru managed to coax out little tidbits of his childhood, how he had been born to farmers and ended up training under what sounded like an evil sake-obsessed monster.  Kenshin was a bit more forthcoming on how he had met Sanosuke, the two of them fighting as enemies before finally acknowledging a common goal and becoming allies.  They discovered afterwards that they quite liked each other, despite numerous personality differences.

 

"I don't see how you put up with that lout, personally."

 

"Sano has a good heart.  Sometimes it's just hard to find under all the...unrefined, er, hotheadness."

 

"So are you the opposite?" she asked pointedly.  "A black heart hidden beneath all the niceness and fancy talk and pretty looks?"

 

"Sometimes this one thinks so," he mumbled.  He was serious, which made her feel bad for picking on him.  Anyone who thought they were that bad couldn't really be.

 

"I...I'm sure you've got a heart of gold, too.  Don't, um...make that face.  Please."  Because it was so cute she was in danger of falling in love with it.

 

A smile quirked at the corners of his mouth.  "As you wish, Kaoru-dono.  Is there, perhaps, a more cheerful subject you would like to talk about?"

 

"Like, what, food?"

 

And that was how Tomoe woke up to the sound of them discussing - or rather, arguing about - the best way to prepare octopus.

 

"It's nearly morning.  Would you like me to start getting breakfast ready, Kaoru?  Or," Tomoe's eyes were smiling, even though her mouth barely twitched, "would you like to continue your octopus conversation?"

 

"You can cook," Kaoru fumed.  "I'm sure you do it better than _him_."  She flopped back onto her futon and pulled the blanket up over her head, and was madder than ever when breakfast later proved that Kenshin was a better cook than both sisters, not just the younger one.  Not that Tomoe didn't take it with good grace.

 

"Such a lovely meal, Himura-san.  I look forward to the pleasure of your company again soon."

 

 _'Don't invite these wackos_ back _, Neesan!'_ Kaoru thought.

 

"It's nothing, really," Kenshin was saying.  "Unfortunately, we might have to take you up on your offer....  We must confront Shishio, but it might take time and we have nowhere to go if the weather gets bad again.  If you are willing to host us in the future, we will be very grateful."

 

"You are welcome any time," Tomoe said graciously.

 

"Don't worry," Sanosuke said as they were leaving.  "We'll catch Shishio soon and make mincemeat out of him.  Just in case, though, stock up on some sake, won't ya?"

 

"I will be sure to do so," Tomoe said with the smallest hint of a smile.  "Do not worry if your mission takes longer to complete than you planned."

 

"Starting to think that won't be such a bad thing," Sanosuke muttered under his breath, a similar smile playing on his lips.

 

"Farewell, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin said, a little sheepishly.

 

"Bye, pervert."

 

"Oro...."

 

Once the men were out of sight, Kaoru turned to her sister and exclaimed, "You _like_ him?!"

 

"They were both perfectly respectable young men," Tomoe said, going back inside to clean up the very little that Kenshin hadn't.  "And amusing."  The small smile was back.

 

"Oh, yes, _so_ amusing to have them see me naked," Kaoru fumed.

 

"Perhaps you should learn to like mice, Kaoru-chan."

 

"Maybe _you_ should learn to stop flirting with strangers."

 

"Flirting?"

 

"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about!"

 

"None of the other villagers seem to."

 

Kaoru paused.  "You have a point," she said thoughtfully.  Sometimes it seemed like she was the only person in the world who understood her sister's subtleties, but that Sagara guy had seemed to pick up on them easily.  He didn't seem like a particularly observant person, which perhaps indicated that he had been paying more attention than usual.  "Well...in any case, I wish you luck."

 

"You also, Kaoru-chan."

 

"Me?!"

 

"The little one didn't seem all too bad a catch himself."

 

"Neesan!" Kaoru wailed, her cheeks flushing, though more with pleasure than the embarrassment she had expected.  "I don't like him...."

 

"Don't you?"

 

"I don't like him _that_ much...."

 

"Yet."

 

Kaoru shook her head a little, smiling.  "You're shameless, you know that?"

 

"With the two of us on our own, it would be best to get securely married as soon as possible."

 

"Uh huh.  And that's the only reason you were flirting with Sagara-san, right?"

 

There was a twinkle in Tomoe's eyes as she met her sister's gaze.  "Does it matter?"

 

"As long as you're happy, then nope."  Kaoru smiled back, and went to help her sister finish the chores.

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  *not happy with the writing quality, but what else is new*  This fic was _originally_ started solely to scrach my itch to write a Kenshin/Tomoe story.  So I cast around for a plot and decided to do another fairy tale retelling.  However, as I started typing, I liked what was coming out, but it was _nothing_ like what I'd wanted.  I finally put it aside and started another attempt at a KT story, this one much more successful because I left Kaoru and the others out of it.  Then I came back to this, wondering if I should delete it since it had not served its purpose...but I really liked the interaction it had started out with, and I experimentally started typing more.

 

Tomoe _shocked_ me by taking a sudden interest in Sano.  I was intrigued by the challenge, and decided to give the unorthodox couple a chance.  I've found that I like AU Sano/Tomoe better than Sano/Megumi, which I've never been particularly fond of. XD

 

Unfortunately, I never finished this story properly...I can't really write for the RuroKen fandom anymore, so I decided to just ditch the fairy tale idea, tack on an ending to this, and post it as is.  Tomoe seems to be good at the kind of banter I've grown to love writing in my Kingdom Hearts fics.  And Tomoe/Kaoru is one of my new favorite platonic pairings in the RK fandom, so that was fun to try out, too. ^^

 

Normally I hate the anime and try to avoid using its alterations in my fics (like Kenshin 'accidentally' seeing Kaoru naked in the first episode), but...sometimes it comes in handy for the story.


	5. I'll Be Home For More Than Christmas

I'll Be Home For More Than Christmas

A Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl

_Giftfic for The Layman_

 

Summary:  Looks like she won't be alone on Christmas Eve after all. [Sano/Megumi gift for a friend.]

 

A/N:  Modern AU, because I can't really write in canon settings for RuroKen. *sweatdrop*

 

o.o.o

 

"Megumi-dono...you'll be all right, won't you?"

 

"Hm?"  Megumi looked up to find her young assistant standing by the desk, gazing at her with a slightly worried look.  "Oh - of course, Ken-san.  Just a few more things to finish up, and then I can leave."

 

He smiled a little, though the worry still remained in his eyes.  "These things keeping you here on Christmas Eve are _extremely_ urgent, this one assumes?"

 

Megumi looked past him, at the toddler trotting around the office, and at the woman energetically berating someone over a cell phone as she followed the child around and deftly kept his curious hands away from the items on the shelves.

 

"It is Christmas Eve, isn't it," Megumi said.  "Go on home, Ken-san. Your vacation starts now."

 

"When will yours?"

 

"Tonight," she said firmly.  "Don't worry, I won't work tomorrow.  And frankly, Ken-san, I don't think it's really your business to dictate how I spend my holidays."

 

"No," he said softly, "but as a friend, this one thinks it might be his business to ensure that you are happy before he takes his leave of you.  Please, come join us for dinner?"

 

She hesitated, not wanting to commit to something and limit her options.  She wanted to _mope_ , dang it.  Though it was sweet that he meant well.  "Tomorrow," she finally said.  "I'll come over for brunch tomorrow, all right?"

 

He smiled again, wider this time.  "That sounds good."

 

Misao snapped the phone closed.  "Ugh, _idiots_.  This is why everyone needs to celebrate Christmas, so I'll have ONE DAY where people aren't whining to me about screwed-up shipments and transaction delays and incompetent admins and arrogant--"

 

Kenshin laughed and went to put an arm around his wife, kissing her cheek.  "Megumi-dono is coming over to eat with us tomorrow.  You two can enjoy complaining to each other then, you seem to have a lot in common."

 

Misao grinned and waved her fingers at Megumi in salute.  "Ah, commiseration.  Looking forward to it, Sensei."

 

"Me, too."

 

"Sword," Kenji announced, waving a drill head he had found.

 

" _No_ , Kenji, put that down!"

 

The little family's exuberant warmth kept Megumi smiling, but once they were gone, quiet settled down around her, and she sighed.  _'Lonely old workaholic, that's what you are, Megumi....'_

 

As she had half-intended, she ended up working until very late, only getting up to leave when it occurred to her that she should do so before she got too tired to drive.  Then it was pulling up to her cold, dark house, struggling to unlock the front door with no light, tossing things down once she got inside and going to flop on the couch and turn the TV on, just for a moment, just long enough to rest and gather what was left of her energy to get up again and make dinner....

 

_Knock, knock._

 

Megumi's eyes flew open.  Apparently she had dozed off...there was a different show on.

 

 _"Oi!"_ a voice yelled from outside.

 

She froze.  _'It...can't be....'_

 

_"Freezing out here, Vixen!  Hurry up."_

 

Surge of emotion.  It was varied and all mixed together so that she couldn't tell exactly _how_ she felt, elated and furious and horrified and excited all at the same time.  Not sure how she felt, but she definitely felt SOMETHING.

 

_"Pleeeeaaaase, Vix--  Come on!  I know you're in there!"_

 

On her feet, marching briskly across the living room, all trace of fatigue forgotten, ripping open the front door--

 

zomg so gorgeous.  Scruffy disgusting jerk who smelled and needed to shave that stubble and cut that horrible tangled mane of hair, but his eyes were sparkling more than ever and he was beautiful.  She wanted to punch him.

 

"'Sup, Vixen," he grinned.

 

She slammed the door in his face.  Then collapsed against the wood and only half managed not to simultaneously squee and burst into tears.

 

_"Oi!  Megumi!"_

 

 _Sanosuke._   The breath caught in her throat, her lips formed his name but her voice was silent.  _Sano, Sano, Sano, oh, I missed you so much, I_ hate _you...._

 

_"Megumi...please...."_

 

Straightened up again.  Took a deep breath.  Face perfectly composed as she opened the door.  "What do you want?"

 

"It's COLD!  Let me in!"

 

"Why should I?" she snapped.  "Did it ever occur to that stupid tiny bird brain of yours that maybe I _don't want to see you_?"

 

"Aw, Megumi--"

 

"Two years!  Two YEARS, no calls, no messages, and now all of a sudden you waltz up out of nowhere and think we can just pick things up again where we left off!?"

 

"Yeah, can we do it _in_ side?"

 

"I have another boyfriend now, Sanosuke.  I've moved on."

 

He went very quiet.

 

She waited.

 

"...He's not here, is he?"

 

"He's coming over in about an hour."

 

"...I'll be gone by then," he said, subdued in a way she'd never seen.  It...didn't make her feel happy, seeing him like that.  "Just wanted to warm up real quick...Kenshin'll let me crash at his place."

 

"...You have twenty minutes," she said, surprised when it came out as a whisper.

 

He pushed his way into the front hall, loud just in his movements and taking up more space than needed and simply being attractively masculine, though still smelling like he hadn't bathed in days.

 

"Ugh, you know what, go shower."

 

"Huh?"

 

"I won't kick you out for now because I am a very kind person, but you're disgusting."  She pointed toward the hallway where the bathroom was.  "Go fix that."

 

It wasn't the full grin, but his mouth did quirk up a bit.  "You sure, Vix?"

 

"What were you planning to do, roll in a bird bath?"

 

"Hey, I may be homeless, but I'm not _that_ desperate.  It's not like Kenshin doesn't have a shower."

 

"Well, if you're going to be here for twenty minutes, you can be sure that your filthy self is not going to be touching any of my furniture, so hurry and clean up.  I've got preparations to make."

 

"Oh yeah...."

 

As soon as he'd shut the door, Megumi ran to the kitchen, heart pounding with panic and, even more, with elation.  _'He's back, he's back, he's back, he's back....'_

_'You hate him,'_ she tried to tell herself.

 

_'I don't care.  He's back.  He's here.  He's home.'_

_'Throw him out,_ now _, before it's too late.'_

_'It was already Too Late a long time ago.'_

 

She turned the oven on, threw pans and ingredients and cooking stuff on the counter so it'd look like she'd been working on dinner for a while, rushed to drag out some Christmas decorations and hang them up so she wouldn't look like she'd been a sulking loser all this time, hid the photo she always kept on the shelf, the one with the two of them holding hands and happy and laughing as if there weren't any problems in the world....

 

ZOMG GORGEOUS.  When he came out again.  Long hair trailing across his neck and shoulders in clean, slightly damp locks; beautiful muscled flesh, nicely exposed since he'd emerged shirtless; and those eyes, they were never going to change, which meant she'd never stop loving them and the man behind them....

 

 _'I hate you,'_ she thought affectionately.  _'You're too beautiful.'_

 

"Borrowed a razor," he said nonchalantly.  "Decided not to grow a beard after all."

 

"For all your plans to intrude on Kenshin's hospitality, you seem to be doing a fine job of taking advantage of my own."

 

"Thought you said I'd always be welcome here."  He watched her as she marched around the kitchen, keeping herself busy with what looked like a big mess she was planning to serve for dinner.

 

"That was before you disappeared for two years."

 

"Megumi, I was in _trouble_.  I thought Kenshin told you."

 

"It never occurred to you to tell me yourself, did it.  Never occurred to you to _talk_ to me about your father's troubles.  Never occurred to you that I might _mind_ when police are suddenly questioning me about the idiot who disappeared the night before he was supposed to become my fiancé."

 

"Oh...you found out about the ring?"

 

"It was IN YOUR POCKET, Sanosuke," she burst out in exasperation, though she was sprinkling turmeric with her back toward him as she said it.  "You _left_ the _engagement ring_ in your _pocket_ and nearly sent it through the wash.  Of course I found it."

 

"Ohhhhh, _that's_ where it went....  You still have it?"

 

"What, you think I'd keep it?  When selling it would get me enough to pay off the car, you think I _wouldn't_ get rid of it when every time I looked at that ring reminded me of someone I hated?"

 

"...You don't really hate me, Megumi."

 

"Just because _you_ don't hate yourself doesn't mean no one else does."

 

There was a pause.  She could practically hear him trying to figure out the sentence structure, and then she could practically hear him give up.

 

"Thought you'd trust me more than that."

 

"It's been more than twenty minutes," she said abruptly.  "Get out, Sanosuke.  I don't want to even--  Mm--  _Ugh_."

 

He stood up.  And walked over to her, because she hadn't looked at him even once all this time.  He put his hands on her shoulders and shifted her until he could see her face and confirm that she had ceased to speak, not from disgust, but because she was crying.  "Megumi," he said quietly.  "I'm sorry."

 

"...."

 

"Forgive me."

 

"...Get out," she managed to whisper.

 

"You're still the only woman I'd ever marry.  And the only one I love.  I wouldn't fall in love with someone I wouldn't want to marry."

 

She didn't say anything, and after a moment, he brushed a tentative kiss near her mouth.  Suddenly her arms were flung around him, her body pressed against his, he just had time to try to keep his footing before losing himself to her furious, thirsting kiss.

 

When they finally parted, breathing hard, her eyes were sparking and her grip on him was obviously not going to loosen any time soon.

 

"At least you still need me for _something_ ," he remarked.  "There is no boyfriend, is there."

 

"I hate you.  I can't _stand_ you."

 

"You still have the ring."

 

"I'll never trust you again."

 

"Come here, Vixen."  Hoisting her up, her legs slung over one arm as he supported her back with the other, he smiled and leaned his head down for another kiss, laughing a little when she beat him to it.

 

She was crying again when she was finally able to drag her lips free, when she was finally sated enough to stop _needing_ him for two seconds.  "Sano...don't leave this time.  Don't leave."

 

He started carrying her into the living room, like he'd meant to do earlier.  "Hey.  If I have to leave again, I'm taking you with me."  He cocked his head a little.  "If you want."

 

"I can't stand to lose you again," she said fiercely.  "And I'm _not going to_ , do you understand me?"

 

He chuckled.  "Because you'd kill me first, right?"

 

"Exactly."

 

They kissed again, and Megumi ended up not spending her Christmas Eve moping after all.

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  ...Started out easy to write, because yay family fluff, but then it got difficult. *sweatdrop*  R.girl is definitely not big on romance, and is most likely never going to do anything like this again, but you're worth making this last effort for, Layman. :)  I ought to post this closer to Christmas, but you've been waiting so politely since July and _oh my gosh I actually wrote something for you that worked_, so I wanted to post it ASAP before something else went wrong!

 

The Layman is a good friend of mine and has been amazingly supportive of my work for both the RuroKen and Kingdom Hearts fandoms.  I've been failing at his giftfic big-time, but I know he likes Sano/Megumi and this little plot bunny for them finally occurred to me, which I think he might appreciate better than the KH thing I'm trying to write for him that's more to my own tastes. ^^;  So this is for you, Layman!  I still want to try to write that "watching RK" scene as your "real" giftfic, since it's something you've actually asked for more than once.  But this Sano/Megumi story is hopefully a bonus, to make up for the short length that one is probably going to be, as well as to thank you for your patience and for being, as far as I know, the only reader who doesn't hate my newer RK stuff. XD

 

**I usually don't like Kenshin/Misao (or Aoshi/Misao, for that matter) because of her age, but I'm okay with it in AUs, and she suited the story best.  Kenji's their kid because I always avoid making up OCs whenever possible.**


	6. To Tomoe

To Tomoe

A Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl

 

Summary:  From Kaoru

 

o.o.o

 

We're not so different, Tomoe-san - it turns out I made the same choice as you in the end.

 

I thought I could be strong enough to go against my instinct...strong enough to do what _he_ would have wanted.  But when it came down to it, there was no thought; no hesitation; no sense of choice.  My body moved before I realized what was happening, and even as I flung myself into death's path, there was no fear.  No room for horror, or regret, or anger - only peace, because he would be safe.

 

I know now what your last thoughts were, as you saved him.  What I can only imagine is what you must have felt, when you looked into his eyes and saw his tears and realized you had broken his heart.  I had told myself I would never do that - that I would choose to live, and let him die in peace.  But in the end, I couldn't.

 

He is so selfish, though.  He never understood how my heart would have shattered if he were the one lost, rather than me.  I can't imagine what life would be like without him, so many long years without his smile, his strength, his love....

 

Of all people, I have your brother to thank for sparing us.  I have you to thank for watching over us.  Enishi's love for you saved my life more than once, and your love for Kenshin brought him back from darkness.  Kenshin is finally free - there is true joy in our life together.  I pray that your brother will one day find such rest.  I would pray that wherever you are now, your spirit has found happiness - except that I know you have.  If nothing else, there is the fading scar on his face; but it's also your smile Kenshin saw in his mind, your protection that he felt, your blessing.

 

Kenshin is so beautiful.  You already know, of course - it's in the strength and speed of his sakabatô, the gentle look in his eyes, the soft touch of his hands, his lips.  Yet it is so much more than that, which you also know.  It leaks out of him, no matter how much he tries to lock himself away; the goodness in him overflows, unable to be contained.  Even as just a child, he had compassion on those who were cruel to him.  As a boy, he willingly carried the weight of countless lives on his sword.  As a man, he nearly killed himself in atonement.  He could not live with the stains he saw on his hands, he condemned himself to exile - and even then, he touched so many lives.  Untouchable himself, yet he reached to help the wronged and the weak.

 

I called him selfish, and he is.  But so am I.  The rurouni set foot in my life, intending oh-so-politely to help and then move on.  I wouldn't let him.

 

I know that you saw it, too, when you met him.  You expected a murderer, a remorseless butcher.  So did I, when I heard the name Hitokiri Battousai.  What we found instead was a man with a kind heart, whose soul wept over the blood his hands had shed.

 

It was his effortless charm that first caught us, the endearingly bumbling boy who fell flat on his face when he discovered you hadn't run; the soft-spoken man who didn't realize he was supposed to dodge my punch (or perhaps chose not to, now that I think of it).  It was his sorrow that drew us in, speaking to the pain in our own hearts - you who lost your beloved, I who lost my parents.  It was his need for us that first made us fall in love with him.  You were the sheath for his madness, the anchor to his purpose.  You showed him what it meant to truly live.  He has told me that I am his home.  He has become mine.

 

When he tried to leave me, I was lost.  I couldn't let him go....  Part of it was that he had taken my heart with him, but part of it was that I knew he would be lost again without me.  Kenshin loves people, he was not meant to be rootless, to only touch other lives briefly.  He needs family - we all do.

 

Yahiko and Sanosuke, Megumi-san, Tae-chan and Tsubame-chan, Kenshin and I, we are each other's support.  You understand.  Your father and your brother loved you so much, they were broken when they lost you.  I don't think their hearts will heal until they're a family again.  After so long, Kenshin finally learned this, and opened his heart at last.  It's no longer a mere thread that holds him to us, so thin that I was terrified it would snap as I clung tighter and tighter.  Now the bonds go both ways.  He does not fear to reach out for me, to become entangled; he comes to my arms gladly.  He does not hold himself at a distance from Yahiko, guiding but never investing.  Now he passes his strength on to Yahiko, who can sense it, and flourishes because of it.

 

Our life together is happy, and I know you are glad that Kenshin has found rest at last.  I'm sure you were proud of the man you knew back then, and I know without a doubt that you would be proud of the man he's become.

 

I wish I could have met you...even now, though, I feel as if I know you.  Even though you're no longer with us, it's like our hearts are still connected, and I'm glad.  I sensed your smile in the falling flakes of snow.  You're my sister and my friend, Tomoe.  I love you.

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  For those of you who haven't read the manga, this takes place soon after Kaoru is rescued from Enishi's island.  There's a manga-only sequence where Kenshin, who's finally beaten Enishi after a long and difficult battle, is shot at by Enishi's discarded minion Woo Heishin.  To everyone's utter horror, Kaoru leaps into the bullet's path to save Kenshin, but Enishi manages to disarm Heishin before he can fire the fatal shot.  I got the idea for this fic when I was recalling that scene, and Kaoru's earlier conversation with Megumi.  Kaoru had stated then that she would not do what Tomoe did; she would choose to live, because dying for Kenshin's sake would only make him suffer again.  Yet in the end, Kaoru jumps to save him with her own life, anyway!  Just like Tomoe!  I wanted to explore that further.

 

I wrote this during a graduation ceremony back in May...can't be 2003, so it's probably 2007, but looking at my publish/update dates, the one that makes more sense is 2009.  Whatever.  In any case, it was a LONG time ago, back when I still gave a flip about the KK vs. KT stupidity in this fandom.  The story sat incomplete on my flash drive for all these years, and now that I'm giving up writing for RuroKen, I dug out this draft to see if I could tack on a few lines of closure and finally actually post it.  (LOL, figures I'd have to end it on a Kingdom Hearts note, hahahahaha. XD)


End file.
